How Does the NFL Point Spread Work?

How Does the NFL Point Spread Work? The point spread is the most common way to bet on NFL games, and it’s also the easiest to understand.

Introduction

The National Football League (NFL) is the most popular sports league in the United States, so it’s no surprise that NFL betting is also hugely popular. One of the most common bets in NFL is the point spread, which pits two teams against each other and asks bettors to wager on which team will win by how much.

In this article, we’ll explain how the NFL point spread works, and how you can use it to your advantage when placing bets on NFL games.

The point spread is essentially a handicap that is placed on one team in order to even out the odds of placing a bet. For example, let’s say that you wanted to bet on the New England Patriots (-3) against the Buffalo Bills (+3) in an upcoming game.

In this case, the Patriots are favored to win by 3 points, and the Bills are given a 3-point head start. This means that if you bet on the Patriots, they must win by more than 3 points for you to win your bet; similarly, if you bet on the Bills, they can lose by up to 3 points and you will still win your wager.

The key thing to remember about the point spread is that it is designed to create betting parity between two teams. In other words, it’s meant to make betting on either team a riskier proposition so that sportsbooks can make money from taking bets on both sides.

This doesn’t mean that there is no value to be found in betting on NFL games with a point spread; it just means that you need be extra careful when handicapping games and looking for betting value.

What is the NFL Point Spread?

In the NFL, the point spread is the number of points estimated that one team will lose by in a given game. The point spread gives a betting line that is used to even out the odds among bettors. When oddsmakers create the point spread for an NFL game, they set it so that there would be an equal amount of money bet on both sides. For example, if the New England Patriots were playing the Miami Dolphins and the Patriots were -7, then oddsmakers would set the point spread at 7 so people would bet evenly on both sides.

How does the NFL Point Spread Work?

The NFL Point Spread, also known as the “line”, is the number of points that oddsmakers believe one team will win by over another team. For example, if the New England Patriots are playing the Buffalo Bills and oddsmakers believe that the Patriots are going to win by 7 points, then they will list the Patriots at -7. If the Bills are going to lose by 7 points, then they will be listed at +7.

The line is set by oddsmakers at a sportsbook. Sportsbooks use different lines for different sports. For example, a basketball point spread may be 1.5 points, while a football point spread may be 6 points. The reason for this is because there are more scoring opportunities in basketball than in football.

The favored team is always listed first on the NFL point spread, with the corresponding amount of points that they are favored by. The underdog is always listed second, with the corresponding amount of points that they are receiving.

For example, let’s say that the New England Patriots are playing the Buffalo Bills and oddsmakers believe that the Patriots are going to win by 7 points. The line would be listed as follows:

New England Patriots -7
Buffalo Bills +7

This means that if you bet on the Patriots, you would need them to win by more than 7 points in order for you to win your bet. If you bet on the Bills, you would need them to either win outright or lose by less than 7 points in order for you to win your bet.

How to Bet on the NFL Point Spread?

The NFL point spread is the most common way to bet on the NFL, and it’s also one of the easiest ways to get started. The basic concept is simple: The favorite gives up points to the underdog, and if you bet on the favorite, you win if they win by more than the spread. If you bet on the underdog, you win if they either win outright or lose by less than the spread.

Conclusion

The bottom line is that the NFL point spread exists to even the playing field between two potentially mismatched teams. By giving one team a head start through the point spread, oddsmakers hope to see a close and competitive game. But remember, sportsbooks still need to make money and they do so by collecting a commission on losing bets, also known as the vig.